Baracy’s problems began in fifth grade when she transferred schools. A straight-A student who danced since she was 2, she was harassed by the smart kids who felt threatened by her, as well as the “cool girls” because she danced at a different studio. In one instance, a kid’s mother even grabbed her and verbally abused her. Attending school made Baracy sick to her stomach.

Baracy told her mother, Janet, that she should get in trouble in order to fit in with her peers, but her mother told her that’s not who she was. Attending John Glenn High School in Westland was no better. Baracy was targeted by girls who vandalized her car, hacked into her email account, forwarded her private emails, and harassed her online. She even received death threats online, prompting her to contact the police. On top of that, her mother had cancer her senior year.

“I have not gotten an apology from the girls in high school. I don’t need an apology to move forward; I don’t hold a grudge,” said Baracy. “Nothing will benefit me by being negative or mean to them. I’d never have an interest to be their friends per se, but can be cordial if I see them in public.”

Baracy managed to get through it, thanks to her parents’ love and support and learned to “better, not bitter.” Eventually, she graduated from the University of Michigan. Additionally, she’s a Michigan’s Junior Miss 2003, a Top Ten Finalist and Overall Fitness Winner at America’s Junior Miss 2003, first runner-up at National Sweetheart 2007, and a Miss America 2008 Academic Scholarship winner.Baracy is currently a morning traffic reporter for WDIV-TV Channel 4 in Detroit.